When you are doing marketing writing to sell your services, you need to realize that your business card is part of your marketing writing. Think of your business card as a tool used to introduce your business to prospects. Ideally, this tiny piece of paper should give a professional, polished impression as well as a clear idea of what you do. It's a challenging exercise, because the restricted space requires brevity, conciseness, and the ability to connect with ideal prospects in a few words.
If you do business networking, you've probably got a pile of business cards on your desk. Go through those cards and pull out the one or two cards where you are instantly clear what the business does. If you go through the rest of the cards, you'll see plenty of instances where the card fails utterly in doing anything meaningful for the business. Here are some of the mistakes to avoid when you design a new business card.
1) Prospects have no idea what your business does or the problems you solve. Instead, there is mysterious language that leaves them puzzled. Even if the words are memorable, if they don't instantly communicate your business concepts, you've wasted your money.
2) The type is so small or unreadable that your prospects have to put on their bifocals to try to read it. Often company decision makers are middle aged. If you're young, try out your card mock up on an older person. If they have to fumble for glasses, it's very likely that a substantial number of your prospects will simply dump your card rather than being inconvenienced.
3) Your telephone number and website are so small that they require the reader to use a magnifying glass to be able to get in touch with you. What are you thinking to make the most important information on the card so difficult to decipher that your prospects get angry and frustrated trying to figure out how to contact you? If you have to put less information on your card so that these elements are easily read, do that.
4) You've put all your attention on the design and ignored the content. You have a striking design but don't worry about finding the best words. You imagine that the prospect will admire your pretty card and believe that will be enough to get them to call. Instead, what you'll get out of this kind of card is admiration for your design, but prospects won't know or care enough about what your business does to find out.
5) You have a cute tagline that doesn't clarify your business. Maybe your tagline gets laughs or gets questions, but they are not the kinds of comments or questions that cement your business concept indelibly into the prospect's mind. Afterwards, prospects recall the laughs and the catchy tagline but have no idea what your business does. Create a tagline tha clearly - and memorably - clarifies your business concept to potential clients.
6) You crowd so much information onto the card that there is no "white space". Even if the type is large enough without the white space to set it off, it's difficult to read. Do you really need to put 4-5 phone numbers and a website and an address? Edit some of this information off your card to allow for adequate white space to lead your prospect's eye around your card. They will feel more comfortable and be more interested.
7) You got creative and chose to have an oddball card insofar as size, orientation or fold. What you need to think about with a unique configuration is that most people have a Rolodex or card file system of some sort. These are set up for horizontal, standard size business cards, in the single style without a fold. When it comes time to decide whether or not to file your card permanently or toss it, these unique configurations might be the decision criteria for tossing your card.
Make the most of your business card. Make sure it clearly demonstrates your business concepts and professionalism. Make sure your prospects can read your important information, and know what your business does. The business card is your tool for first contact with prospects. Don't waste the opportunity
If you do business networking, you've probably got a pile of business cards on your desk. Go through those cards and pull out the one or two cards where you are instantly clear what the business does. If you go through the rest of the cards, you'll see plenty of instances where the card fails utterly in doing anything meaningful for the business. Here are some of the mistakes to avoid when you design a new business card.
1) Prospects have no idea what your business does or the problems you solve. Instead, there is mysterious language that leaves them puzzled. Even if the words are memorable, if they don't instantly communicate your business concepts, you've wasted your money.
2) The type is so small or unreadable that your prospects have to put on their bifocals to try to read it. Often company decision makers are middle aged. If you're young, try out your card mock up on an older person. If they have to fumble for glasses, it's very likely that a substantial number of your prospects will simply dump your card rather than being inconvenienced.
3) Your telephone number and website are so small that they require the reader to use a magnifying glass to be able to get in touch with you. What are you thinking to make the most important information on the card so difficult to decipher that your prospects get angry and frustrated trying to figure out how to contact you? If you have to put less information on your card so that these elements are easily read, do that.
4) You've put all your attention on the design and ignored the content. You have a striking design but don't worry about finding the best words. You imagine that the prospect will admire your pretty card and believe that will be enough to get them to call. Instead, what you'll get out of this kind of card is admiration for your design, but prospects won't know or care enough about what your business does to find out.
5) You have a cute tagline that doesn't clarify your business. Maybe your tagline gets laughs or gets questions, but they are not the kinds of comments or questions that cement your business concept indelibly into the prospect's mind. Afterwards, prospects recall the laughs and the catchy tagline but have no idea what your business does. Create a tagline tha clearly - and memorably - clarifies your business concept to potential clients.
6) You crowd so much information onto the card that there is no "white space". Even if the type is large enough without the white space to set it off, it's difficult to read. Do you really need to put 4-5 phone numbers and a website and an address? Edit some of this information off your card to allow for adequate white space to lead your prospect's eye around your card. They will feel more comfortable and be more interested.
7) You got creative and chose to have an oddball card insofar as size, orientation or fold. What you need to think about with a unique configuration is that most people have a Rolodex or card file system of some sort. These are set up for horizontal, standard size business cards, in the single style without a fold. When it comes time to decide whether or not to file your card permanently or toss it, these unique configurations might be the decision criteria for tossing your card.
Make the most of your business card. Make sure it clearly demonstrates your business concepts and professionalism. Make sure your prospects can read your important information, and know what your business does. The business card is your tool for first contact with prospects. Don't waste the opportunity
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